United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Water Security Initiative: Guidance for Building Laboratory
Capabilities to Respond to Drinking Water Contamination
Contaminant Classes of Concern to Water Security
Chemicals
Carbamate pesticides
Organophosphate pesticides
Arsenic com pounds
Mercury compounds
Cyanide compounds
Petroleum products
Herbicides
Biotoxins
Plant toxins
Algal toxins
Bacterial toxins
Fungal toxins
Animal toxins
Pathogens
Select and non-select bacteria
Select and non-select viruses
Protozoa
Rickettsia
Approach for Building Laboratory Response Capabilities
Overview
Drinking water contamination can occur as a result
of natural, accidental, or intentional acts. Under
EPA's Water Security Initiative, a Surveillance
and Response System is an integrated utility
program of active distribution system surveillance
and response protocols. Active surveillance can
improve water quality and operations at the utility
and, when paired with effective response actions,
can detect distribution system contamination early
enough to mitigate consequences.
If water contamination is suspected, sampling and
analysis is one of the earliest utility-led response
actions. Sampling and analysis includes field
investigation, site safety screening, water quality
parameter analyses, rapid field testing, sample
collection, and laboratory analyses to confirm or rule
out contamination.
This guidance is for water utilities to help them
prepare for laboratory analysis of a wide range of
contaminant classes of concern to water security
during consequence management of Possible,
Credible or Confirmed contamination incidents.
The recommended approach is to build capabilities,
either in-house or through support laboratories, for
representative contaminants from each contaminant
class of concern to water security. Identifying
contaminants, analytical methods and laboratory
support partners in advance of an emergency
response situation enables the utility to:
• practice methods and exercise laboratory
partnerships
• establish baseline contaminant occurrence and
method performance for water samples from
their distribution system
• improve the efficiency of their response through
identification and development of sampling and
analysis procedures
Contents of Guidance
• Contaminant Classes of Concern
• Preferred Analytical Methods for Representative
Contaminants
• Building a Laboratory Support Network
• Reimbursement of Costs Incurred During
Emergency Response
Link to Guidance
http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecurity/lawsregs/
upload/epa817r13001 .pdf
Office of Water (MC-140) • EPA 817-F-13-006 • November 2013
Chemical warfare agents
Pharmaceuticals
Fluorinated organic compounds
Heavy metal compounds
Persistent chlorinated organics
Rodenticides
Radiochemicals
Alpha emitters
Beta emitters
Beta + Gamma emitters
Review contaminants of concern to water
security.
Select subset representing broad contaminant
coverage.
Identify methods.
Y s
Is there a dual-use
benefit to acquiring in-
house capability?
Establish in-house capability for routine
sampling and analysis.
Are there condition
under which the routine
in-house capability would
not be used in
emergency response?
Establish in-house
capability for
emergency response
I
I
I
I
I
No
I
I
I
I
Yes
Identify a partner
for emergency
response support.
------- |